The Climb
by TheCloudsLied
Summary: After months of torture and experimentation, Noa is saved but her life cannot go back to the way it was. Through unwanted and perhaps unintended aid, Noa must let herself heal, while being forced to stay in the headquarters of the ninja worlds most notorious criminals: the akatsuki.
1. Chapter 1

Consciousness floated in and out of her reach. Every few hours she would grab it and hold on for a minute or two, and then it would slip from between her fingers leaving her alone in the cool blackness of limbo. Noa struggled to keep it in her grip, but a part of her didn't want her to wake. Part of her didn't want her to face the horrors that surrounded her in waking.

A wretched, inhuman scream finally pulled Noa from her dark nothingness. Her eyes slid open and were strained as she tried to tell what was around her. Even while awake she was surrounded by darkness. She could make out vaguely the shapes of people or maybe what used to be people. Now all they were was corpses. They were crumpled on the ground and unmoving; some looked like they might be sleeping while others were in positions far too odd to have been just a slumber.

No more than two feet away from Noa a sole woman was convulsing violently. Noa was no expert, but she could tell that this woman was having a seizure. Noa wondered foggily if she knew the woman, but it was a stupid question. Everyone she had known here was now long dead.

Noa was shivering as she stared; the woman had now stopped moving. Probably dead, thought Noa trying to focus on the woman's face. Was it her imagination or was her vision becoming blurry? Noa couldn't tell. She shut her eyes and curled into a ball for warmth. She could feel sweat pouring off her like a fountain. Her lips were dry and cracked. She wasn't too sure when the last time she drank was but it didn't matter. There was no point. There was a water bowl across her prison but she had neither the strength nor the will to make it there. Months of imprisonment had drained her resolve.

She felt a twinge of abhorrence towards her captors but she didn't have enough energy to be enraged. They had done all this in the name of "science". Whatever drugs they have given them had caused the deaths of so many, yet all she could feel was a small pang of hate. She wasn't capable of more.

Light flooded into the room and to her terror she was blind. She could see nothing. She squinted and could make out a figure- no, make that two- entering. One had blond hair like the sun and the other had fiery red hair. She couldn't tell anymore about them than that.

One of them, Noa couldn't tell which said, "Look for survivors." It was a male voice. Noa tried not to move, hoping they would overlook her. She didn't want more drugs, she just wanted to die in peace. To her dismay she saw blond hair near her and felt herself being picked up.

"Found one, un," said the one in the midst of picking her up. He had a male voice too. In a last feeble attempt, Noa tried to thrash her body and slip away from his grasp. She was too weak to do much but she felt him fighting against her struggling. "Calm down, un. We aren't hurting you!" he said and Noa couldn't make out his tone. She did stop resisting but not because of him. Her vision was completely gone, her hearing was starting to go and she didn't have the strength to move. She heard him saying something but to her frustration she couldn't make it out.

She wasn't too sure if she was sleeping or if her senses were failing her but either way, when she reclaimed consciousness she was laying in a clean warm bed. She had tubes attached to her arms and she wore a nightgown. She stared at the I.V. and wondered what it was administered. She tried to pull it out but she was no good with pain; especially not the tugging one of tubes in her arms. Noa gave up after the pulling began to sting and left her arm feeling strangely numb and tingly. She felt better now than she had in the cell. No longer did she feel feverish, nor were her senses out of control. Perhaps the I.V. was helping her, she ended up reasoning as she gave up on her attempt to pull it out.

Noa cautiously stepped out of bed. Her legs almost collapsed under her weight. She had not done much moving in months; not since the beginning of her captivity. She had lost track of how long she had been prisoner but she estimated that it was a minimum of two months. She made her way to the door using her I.V. pole as a walker. She tried the handle and to her surprise and delight it was unlocked. She opened the door painfully slowly, and peaked out. No one was around.

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She had to decide what to do next. She wasn't too sure where she was, nor who was around. Maybe they were helping her but for all she knew it could have been her captors.

To her horror, before she could decide on a course of action she heard footsteps. Her first reaction was to run and she tried that, boy did she try. Unfortunately her legs weren't ready for that and instead she hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Shit," she murmured through clenched teeth as she tried to pull herself up. Tears in her eyes from the pain of impact, she could see someone coming quickly towards her with blue hair. "Stay back!" she found herself ordering and to her surprise they froze. Noa blinked the tears from her eyes, sure that her senses were failing her again. Blue hair?

"Are you alright?" asked a woman's voice. Noa's vision cleared and she gazed up at the woman. She looked to be a couple inches taller than Noa and a few years older. She indeed sported shoulder length blue hair with a white flower decoration. She wore a black cloak with red shapes that Noa would only realize later were supposed to be represent clouds.

Noa just stared at her. She didn't reply to the woman's question but she did get to her feet, so that probably helped to indicate a "yes". She was as alright as she was expected to be after being imprisoned and used as a guinea pig to test new drugs.

"Where am I?" Noa asked finally.

The woman gazed at her steadily before responding, "You are in the headquarters of an organization called _akatsuki. _It's located in the Village Hidden in the Rain. My name is Konan."

The only thing Noa found important from Konan's talking was her location. Village Hidden in the Rain was not located in Rice Paddie Country. She had crossed the border. With that in mind she asked in a voice that sounded a lot surer than she felt, "why were you experimenting on people?"

"We weren't, but maybe we should sit down before we get in to everything," she replied then added, "May I approach you now?" She spoke with a soft yet strong voice. She didn't seem cruel, but Noa knew that evil came in many forms. Still Noa nodded consent. The woman approached and gently gripped Noa's arm, leading her away. She wasn't led back to the room, no.

Noa was led to a kitchen. The smell of a freshly made pizza filled her nostrils. She located it cooling on the counter and her stomach growled in yearning. When had she last ate? She couldn't now remember.

"Here, sit." Konan parked her at the table and then went to grab two plates. She loaded each with three slices of pizza and brought them to the table. Noa dug in without hesitation while staring at Konan expectantly.

"It was not _akatsuki _doing human experimentation but a missing ninja from The Village Hidden in the Leaves by the name of Orochimaru-" Konan began. At the name of Orochimaru Noa began to choke on her half swallowed mouthful of pizza.

After a small coughing fit she managed to wheeze out, "The leader of the Village Hidden in the Sound?" Konan nodded and Noa was filled with a feeling of utter betrayal. "But he had a deal with the daimyou to get that village going! He has no right neither kidnapping the citizens of Rice Paddie Country nor using them like that!" she cried out somewhat desperately.

"I agree," said Konan considerately "It really does show the sad state of the ninja world." The two sat in silence after that for awhile after that eating their pizza.

Finally Noa asked a question that was bothering her, "Why was I brought here? Not to a hospital?"

Konan laughed but what type of laugh it was Noa could not say. "You were found by a couple of men in our organization. They were investigating the dealings of Orochimaru. You were the sole survivor of the test subjects. They brought you here partially because you needed healing, but also partially because our organization is curious to what, if anything, the drugs you have been injected with have done to your body." A look of disgust crossed Noa's face and Konan must have noticed this for she added, "You must think us no better than him for seeing you as an experiment, but please understand that you have already been used as test subject and it seems a shame to let the suffering of so many people bear no fruit."

Noa could see too easily Konan's logic but still didn't wish to be used. "Do I have a choice?"

"I fear that you don't, our leader wishes to see the results of Orochimaru's experiments, no matter how unethical they are."

"I see," was all Noa said but she didn't argue. It was then that she felt it, something that can only be described as a burst of self-loathing. Her lack of argument towards being used reminded her of how much of a pushover she was. Even more, it reminded her of her feeble spirit, which had been broken too easily in the darkness of her confinement. These thoughts made Noa feel nauseous.

At exactly the same time Noa doubled over and a blond man entered the room. From a quick observation the blond man wore the same cloak as Konan, but that was where the resemblance ended. His hair was not only blond, but long and held back in a ponytail.

"Are you okay?" asked both the blond man and Konan at the same time. Noa opened her mouth to reply but instead found herself throwing up all over the kitchen table.

"Gross, un," said the blond man gently pulling Noa away from the ex-contents of her stomach. Noa jumped away from him, terrified.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted, panicked.

"Sorry, un!" said the man in alarm holding his hands up revealing his palms. He was trying to show he wasn't a threat but instead Noa was faced with a bizarre sight. In the palms of each of his hands, was a mouth. It was a complete mouth, with lips and teeth, and even a tongue. She wasn't sure whether to be awed or frightened.

"I probably fed her too much," said Konan regretfully, "I forgot that she was on the brink of starvation. The cheese was probably too rich for her."

"I'll see if I can get a change of clothes for her, un," offered the blond man. Noa glanced down and her nightgown and saw how the front was covered in her own vomit. Disgusting.

"Alright, I'll clean this mess up," said Konan wandering into the other room, presumably to grab cleaning materials.

"What size do you take, un?" asked the blond man turning to Noa.

"Medium," she replied instantly, out of habit. The blond man laughed and Noa looked down at herself. She had definitely lost weight in the last few months. She used to weigh 120 pounds and that weight was obvious mostly in her chest and derriere, though she had had a bit of tummy chub. All the fat was off her bones now and she stared down at herself in shock. She had once had what she considered rather decent sized breasts. She had gone from a C cup to what looked now like an A cup.

"Small?" she tried again, though she really had no idea.

"I'll find a few different sizes, un," he offered and she nodded thankfully. She found herself alone in the kitchen, which was somewhere she did not want to be. The overwhelming smell of stomach acid was making her gag and she wandered into the hallway. She weak legs wouldn't take her at a very fast pace though. She was halfway back to her room when the blond man returned with a few sets of clothing.

"Here," he said offering them to her. She took them cautiously, being sure not to hold them against her chest where there was still puke. He pointed two doors down and opened the door a bit. She could see that it was a washroom. "You can change in here, un," he added.

"I got that," she said somewhat sarcastically though she was thankful for the kindness, even if she was only the _akatsuki _guinea pig now.

He laughed, "You'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine," she agreed and she went in the washroom and shut the door. She easily slid out of her nightgown and dropped it and all of its barf-filled glory in the tub. She proceeded to then stare at herself in the mirror. She was much too skinny, all of her looked it. Her bones were so prominent that she ended up looking like a skeleton. Her skinniness made her appear younger too. Instead of looking nineteen she ended up looking merely fifteen. The thought of her thinness brought other realizations: she hadn't had a period anytime recently. Hadn't she once read something about underweight women being infertile? She shook the thought out of her mind.

On the bright side, Noa was relatively clean. She assumed that she had been washed by someone after she was taken to _akatsuki _headquarters. She found that she had hair in her armpits and on her legs, which were places that she preferred to be shaved. She was paler than she had once been too, she supposed that being in the dark for so long would do that to you. Her hair looked rather unhealthy. Malnutrition and the lack of proper hair care had caused it to lose it's lovely golden shine it had once possessed. It was just a ratty blonde now.

Once she had taken in her appearance she tried to put clothing on. She found it rather difficult though. She managed to put on underwear and a bra but it was rather difficult. Underwear was a struggle because she didn't seem to be capable of standing on a single leg for long. The bra worked fine but due to her I.V. she was incapable of getting a shirt on overtop. She had managed to get out of nightgown only because it was a button down thing.

While considering her options she noticed a scale. She waited until the display showed zero. She then stood on it and stared as the numbers changed. Eventually it rested on 93. She was 93 pounds. She had lost approximately thirty pounds. That was a quarter of her weight she realized in shock. She sat on the edge of the tub and began to think of her predicament again. Eventually she admitted that she needed help.

In humiliation she was forced to open the door slightly and call Konan's name. She only called it about ten times when Konan heard and arrived. Konan didn't even ask the problem, she just got to dressing Noa immediately. It was degrading for Noa to be dressed by another grown woman. Especially since Konan dressed her so quickly and efficiently.

"You won't need an I.V. soon," Konan comforted her; "You should be able to move onto solid food, and pills. All the I.V. is going to need from now on is dealing your dehydration."

Konan was right too. In two weeks Noa wouldn't need an I.V. The trick was getting to that point. The first night was the worst. After another meal made by Konan –smaller this time- Noa was brought back to her room where she was left to do as she pleased. She was never a big reader but she ended up reading some fiction book that she found around the base. When finally ready for bed she put the book down and just hit the switch of her lap. She was engulfed in darkness. She had never had a problem with darkness before, she had even spent three months getting acquainted with it and been fine but after being left in it she panicked. She trashed her arm out going for the lamp. Instead of turning on the lamp all that accomplished was knocking it off the nightstand. It hit the ground with a smash and she knew at once it had shattered. The terror had not ebbed away quite yet and she leapt out of her bed. She was lucky not to have stepped on any ceramic shards. She dashed to the door as quickly as she could, being attached to her I.V. pole. She swung the door open quite violently and the room flooded with light.

She let out a sigh of relief. She then heard quick footsteps and tilted her head to see the blond man racing towards her. He slowed his pace when he saw she was alright

"What happened?" he asked.

"I think I need a nightlight," replied Noa sheepishly. He nodded straight away and hurried off to grab one. When he returned Noa thanked him.

"I'm sorry, I'm not usually this high maintenance," she added.

"Don't worry about it," replied the man with a mischievous smirk, "I'm not usually this nice."

Noa laughed, "I'm Noa by the way, if you hadn't already gotten that."

The man laughed too, "I kind of got that. My name's Deidara if you were wondering."


	2. Chapter 2

It was a long and grueling two weeks, but two weeks passed just the same. The comings and goings at the base were very limited. After the evening that Deidara gave her the night light, he left the headquarters on secret _akatsuki _work, leaving Noa all alone with Konan.

At first it was okay but the longer she was there, the more she relized she didn't want to be. Alone, Noa grew resentful towards all of them: the scientists who had done this to her, their employer and even, maybe most of all, the _akatsuki_. Noa retreated to her room where she read the fiction books over and over again until she was sick of them, and then she would read them some more.

Konan made many attempts to end Noa's isolation, but Noa was stubborn. She would not socialize with her captors. The only time she'd leave her room was for meals. Even when Konan tried to keep her at the table to talk, Noa would make her own way back to her room. She'd hobble there herself if she must. More often than not, Konan would give up and help her back. By the end of the two weeks that wasn't necessary, Noa could make it herself.

Every night Noa would have nightmares, at least on the nights she found sleep. Often she'd lie on her back staring at the outline of her ceiling and trying to imagine home: the coastal town of Kuste. She'd try to think of the cool breeze as it blew from the water on a hot summer day. She'd think of the tall mountains that surrounded Kuste, and how when one climbed the mountains it felt like one was on top of the world. She'd avoid thinking of people though. She didn't know if the people were still there or even still alive.

As she'd drift off, sometimes her eyes would shut and her heart would pound. She'd be forced to open her eyes to prove to herself that she wasn't in the dark; to prove that she wasn't in some dark cell rotting and forgotten.

She was woken by a particularly violent dream in which there was small child screaming. First for help, then just an overwhelmingly savage scream filled with pain and anguish and terror. She jerked out of her light sleep, her heart hammering and her whole body shaking. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew she'd be getting no more sleep that night. She climbed out of bed and wandered to the kitchen. To her surprise the light was on but no one was there. Had she turned off the light that night? She couldn't remember.

There were possessions lying on the kitchen table that certainly hadn't been there when she had gone to bed. A pile of receipts, a guitar, a leather-bound book, a lighter, and a box of cigarettes were a few of the many items. Noa was initially drawn to the guitar. It was a plain acoustic. She had used to waitress, back in Kuste, and sometimes musicians would come to play at their restaurant/bar. There had been one who had initially been "just passing by" but had ended up staying for a whole two months.

During that time he had taught Noa lots of things. He taught the basics of reading music, he thought her how to hold a guitar and how to play a few tunes. His teachings of course, hadn't been limited to music. He had taught her lessons of the heart and lessons of life. But this was a long time ago. So long ago that it could've happened to a different girl. She put the guitar down and instead turned to the pack of cigarettes.

She had never been a big smoker, but occasionally on her breaks she'd share a smoke with a coworker. It helped, especially in the evenings when she'd have a lot on her mind. She took both the package and the lighter. She wandered down the hall to where she knew the balcony was and stepped out into the cool pre-dawn air. She had been on the balcony before but never at this time of night. It was drizzling slightly, but it wasn't exactly what you'd call true rain. She could see all these tall, wonky buildings surrounding her and street lights and signs. She lit her cigarette and took a toke.

She relaxed as she looked down at the city, and for the first time in awhile she wanted to explore. She wanted to know what was out there, what this city was like. Someone had told her once that every city had a personality, so what was the Village of Rain like?

Once she was finished she dropped the butt of the balcony and watched its tiny glow of light as it fell into the darkness below. She turned towards the door to head back, but stopped dead in her tracks. She stood facing a man. Her eyes scanned him. She didn't recognize him but he was dressed in a cloak like the others. He was about half a foot taller than her; he had white hair, cool dark eyes and frightening look about him. A large scythe with three blades was hanging from his back.

"So you're the slut who stole my partner's things?" he demanded, staring at her intensely. Once Noa might've criticized his use of the word "slut", but the shell of Noa didn't. The shell ofNoa didn't want to mess with this guy.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought…they were just on the table I didn't realize they belonged to anyone. I can give them back, I-" Noa began to pull the carton from her pocket.

"-I don't smoke," he growled, "and one is missing."

"Well…what could I do?" she squeaked, frightened.

"Well there is one thing," he smirked and stepped towards her while grabbing hold of the scythe. Noa took a step back and found herself pressed against the railing. She knew that he intended to kill and she was terrified. She had thought, after all she'd been through, that death would be a relief. With the reaper staring her in the face, she realized that she still wanted to live.

"No, I-" she began, sounding a little stronger; a little more like her old self.

"Hidan, leave the girl alone!" came a stronger voice still. Behind Hidan was Deidara glaring.

"Is she yours?" he snickered, "The bitch's been taking Kakuzu's things."

"I'm not anyone's," declared Noa, feeling oddly courageous.

"She is under leader-sama's protection, and therefore the protection of all the _akatsuki._ You will _not_ lay a hand on her, un," proclaimed Deidara.

"I don't care who's protection she's under, I _want _her as payback," hissed HIdan, clearly angry he was no getting his way.

"Well you'll have to find another sacrifice. This girl's life is worth far more than payback. We'll return your partner's things in the morning," said Deidara ending the confrontation swiftly. He walked past Hidan, grabbed Noa's arm and led her away. Once they were fairly far away Noa became conscious of how bad she was shaking and she had to laugh. Deidara joined in.

"What did you take anyways?" he eventually asked.

"Cigarettes and a lighter," Noa replied softly.

Deidara sighed, "We'll head into town tomorrow and get replacements."

"Like 'we' as in 'you and me'?" Noa asked, hardly daring to believe it. She hadn't left the base yet and she had been here for weeks, maybe even months.

"Uh, yeah," he grunted, then smirked.

"So uhm, I guess I'll see you a few hours then," Noa said as they reached her room door.

"Yep!" he agreed and walked off leaving her at her door.


	3. Chapter 3

Noa was surprised to find that once returned to her room she managed to fall asleep for a few more hours. She was finally awoken by a slight tapping at her door.

"Yes?" she managed to croak, despite her dry throat.

"Will you be ready in half an hour?" came Deidara's tentative voice. Noa glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already ten.

"Sure will," she proclaimed after clearing her throat. He didn't reply to this but she heard his footsteps as he departed. For having slept longer than she had in a long time, she felt more tired if that was possible. Regardless she forced herself out of bed. Quickly she picked up an outfit that she was sure hadn't been worn, from the pile of garments that she had arranged in a chaotic pile on the floor. Grabbing a towel as a afterthought, she left her room and bee-lined to the bathroom.

It was funny, every time she was in the bathroom she was tempted to check her weight. But she had decided that seeing how small she had involuntarily gotten, despite trying to gain back the weight now, probably wasn't beneficial to her psychological wellbeing. Most of the time she resisted this temptation, but occasionally it did win. Last time temptation had gotten the best of her she was only 99 pounds. It was odd too, because she had thought that after starving for months, that she would gain weight back almost instantaneously. But it wasn't working like that. Not at all.

Noa didn't like the shower. Seeing herself naked reminded her this. It reminded her that she was a totally different girl. It reminded her of all the abuse she had went through. Her months of malnutrition meant that now when she washed her hair, handfuls would fall out into her hands. It wasn't noticeable _per se_ but her hair did look thinner, to her at least.

She showered quickly, got dressed and headed to the kitchen. There Deidara was sitting at the table playing around with some clay. He looked up at her when she entered.

"You ready? Yeah?" he smirked.

"Gimme a sec," ordered Noa as she opened the cupboard and pulled out a huge glass, which she preceded to fill with water. She chugged it in five seconds while Deidara watched in awe. "Now I'm ready," she announced afterwards. She hadn't eaten but was honestly not hungry. Konan would be upset if she knew, Konan was intent on making Noa healthy again and had begun to monitor all her meals ensuring that she had enough servings of every nutritional thing imaginable. But what she didn't know wouldn't kill her.

"Well then let's go," commanded Deidara and he began to lead the way. Noa followed him through doors she didn't know existed, and down so many staircases she couldn't keep count. The building must have been ridiculously tall, because she knew they weren't at the top. They were finally let out of what Noa had begun to imagine was an endless tunnel, on a street corner. It was raining down huge drops, and it occurred to Noa she hadn't brought anything to keep herself dry. Ready to curse her stupidity she opened her mouth, but Deidara silently interrupted her. From his cloak he pulled out two rice hats.

"Thanks," said Noa mouth still agape. Deidara looked up at her.

"They're both for me, un," he claimed, then smirked. Noa smirked back.

"Like hell they are," she announced as she snatched one from him, and he laughed.

"Let's see if we can find you a coat or something though, so the rest of you doesn't get soaked," suggested Deidara. Noa nodded, happy a t the thought of a new coat. She still didn't feel like any of the things she had been given since coming to the Village Hidden in the Rain were hers. She was allowed to use them, to wear them, but nothing _belonged_ to her. Maybe if she were there to choose it and to buy it then it would feel like hers.

It didn't take long at all to find a shop that sold raincoats. It helped that Deidara knew where he was going, but Noa felt that in a place that was named after rain there must be quite a few raingear shops. He lead her down a few streets that were oddly deserted for being at the center of the city. It seemed the further they got from the tower, the more people were around. People didn't give Noa a second glance, a scrawny half-starved girl was not an uncommon sight for them she noticed. None of them had seen great fortune or riches in this city. They stared down Deidara as he walked past, eyes wide. Some looked scared, others timidly angry. It was the first time in awhile that Noa remembered fully what te akatsuki were: criminals.

Deidara ducked into a doorway. Noa would've missed him turning had she not noticed a few seconds later that the person she was following had disappeared. Her eyes looked franically before noticing the red clouds to her left, and she followed him into the shop. The shop keeper trotted forward excited as the bells hanging off the door rung, but he paled when he saw who his customers.

"How may I help you?" he gulped anxiously. Deidara smiled almost wickedly. He wanted to mess with the shopkeeper and in another life Noa would've wanted to as well. But not anymore, Noa knew how it was to be scared.

She cut off Deidara's fun, "I need a jacket." The shopkeeper relaxed a bit, and Deidara scowled almost like a child.

"Right this way," lead the shopkeeper. He began to make an exhibit t of all the waterproof jackets he had in her size. They were all rather generic but considering the poverty of the area it wasn't unexpected. They were for practical use, not to make one look fancy. Noa carefully selected a pale pink one, and turned to Deidara, who by now looked bored.

"That one?" he asked monotonously. Noa nodded , and Deidara quickly purchased it and led her out.

"I guess cigarettes now," said Noa as she wrapped the coat around herself.

"I guess so, yeah," agreed Deidara, "You can just wait outside."

"Why?" asked Noa puzzled.

"Well because you're not very old," he said casually.

"Fuck you, I'm nineteen. How the hell old are you?" Noa snapped, mad at her childish appearance. She used to look a lot more womanly. _You will again,_ she comforted herself.

Deidara looked taken aback, but smiled, "I'm nineteen too."

"When's you're birthday?" she demanded.

"May," he leered.

"January. I'm your elder," she smirked back, feeling more like her old self.

"I guess you can come in, un," Deidara relented, no longer smiling but there was definitely a twinkle in his eye.

Come in she did, though she didn't partake in the transaction at all. She mainly watched as Deidara selected a pack, paid, and left. She watched, slightly bored. But it was odd, despite being bored she enjoyed it. It was the most normal thing she had experienced in a long time, she had missed shopping. Missed being outside, having the freedom to roam.

After they exited the smoke shop Noa felt her heart sinking. Back the tower they'd go. Deidara paused after the exited the building, and leaned against a damp wall.

"I don't really wanna go back yet," he confessed. "Whenever Kakuzu and Hidan are around it seems all hell breaks loose."

"How long do you think they'll be here for?" asked Noa, dreading encountering Hidan again. If it wasn't even his stuff that she took she'd hate to meet the possessor- Kakuzu.

"Probably not long. Kakuzu likes profit and there's none to be found in a place like this. Everyone here is poor as dirt. Hidan's supposed to stick with Kakuzu, though they don't _get along _exactly," Deidara confided. He sighed, "Wanna get lunch?"

"Yeah sure," said Noa knowing she should eat after skipping breakfast. Deidara led her only two doors down to a small little restaurant. The inside was dim and just a bit creepy, but it smelled wonderful. There was a spice to the air that reminded Noa of chutney. There was no formal menu, just the special which had some foreign name that Noa didn't remember. It was a spicy soup with flatbread served on the side.

"Where's your headband from?" asked Noa abruptly between spoonfuls of stew.

"This?" asked Deidara lifting up his long bangs off his forehead, to reveal not just the headband, but a weird mechanical apparatus on his left eye.

"Yeah...that," agreed Noa, tilting her head trying to figure out what the contraption was on his eye.

"I'm originally from the Village Hidden in the Stone," he told her. _Originally _implying that he had cut his ties, though that was expected. Akatsuki members were missing ninja. They had turned their backs on their homes.

"And what's the thing?" asked Noa after a pause.

"_The thing?" _he repeated mockingly.

"Eye thing," clarified Noa.

"It's a scope. It helps me to," he glanced around, "See long distances."

"Do you wear it all the time?" teased Noa.

"Usually only when I'm expecting a fight or on the road," he said casually.

"Bu you're not..." Noa started again, "Do you expect a fight?"

Deidara shook his head, "It's more of a precaution. There's a lot of unrest in this village and my fellow akatsuki members don't all help."

"If you wear a scope, then you must be a long range fighter, right?" asked Noa. Deidara didn't reply. "Do you have a bow and arrow?" she laughed. He gave her a dark look for a second, then broke out into a smile.

"I could show you if you want!" he told her enthusiastically.

"Show me? That doesn't sound very safe," she noted, then regretted mentioning it. There was actually a time once, when she didn't care about safety. There was a time when she cared about adventure, and dreaming of leaving Kuste. Now that she was, she just wanted things to be back.

"It'll be plenty safe, yeah," Deidara assured her in exasperation.

Noa slurped up the rest of her spicy soup and got to her feet, "Let's go." She was fearful but excited. This was a chance to be who she _really_ was. The thrill-seeking waitress from Rice Paddie Country, not the shell-shocked little girl who just barely survived captivity.

She followed Deidara who was walking at a very brisk pace. She had to do a slight jog at times to keep up with him, and in her out of shape state she was panting pretty heavily before long. She didn't complain though, she was determined to see whatever he was going to show her. It became clear after a couple minutes that he was leading her out of the town.

Finally after a good fifteen minute workout for Noa, Deidara obviously decided they were far enough away and he stopped.

"Ready?" he asked

"Maybe..give me like..five minutes...to catch my breath," panted Noa feeling pathetic. He rolled his eyes and put his right hand in his pocket. He pulled out what looked like clay, and quickly began to mold it into the shape of a bird.

"Prepare to be amazed," he smirked and released the bird, which began to glide away from them through the air. Noa was amazed but that wasn't it. Once it was about twenty yards away Deidara began to do something with his hands, and like a balloon it popped. Noa let out a small gasp, frightened but amazed. For such a small piece of clay it made a huge explosion, and she could feel the warmth from the blast even though she was so far away. She watched the sky light up for a moment, then the light left almost instantaneously. There was no blaze left, the rain saw to that, and all that was left was her, Deidara, and scorched earth.

"You like it?" he smiled at her.

"Very much so," she confessed.

"Then let's head back."


End file.
